Gunner&#39;s seat and mounting



Jan. 12, 1937. c. ca. TRIMBACH GUNNERS SEAT AND MOUNTING Filed Feb. 14, 1954 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVENTOR. CLEMGTRIMBACH.

Jan. 12, 1937. C G, TR|MBAH 2,067,585

GUNNERS SEAT AND MOUNTING Filed Feb. 14, 1934 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN VEN TOR.

m CLEM G .TRIMBACH.

'" ATTO S.

Patented Jan. 12, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GUNNERS SEAT AND MOUNTING Application February 14, 1934, Serial No. 711,105

Claims.

This invention relates to gun mounts for aircraft, and is particularly concerned with providing a novel and improved type of movable seat from which a seated gunner can operate a separately mounted gun.

A particular object of the invention is to provide a movable seat adapted for use in aircraft having relatively narrow and shallow cockpits, wherein the gunner can move the seat to attain a relatively comfortable position for all available angles of fire of the gun.

A further object is to provide, in an aircraft fuselage, a curved track mounted adjacent the floor of the fuselage and on which a seat is adapted to move forwardly and rearwardly. Still another object is to provide a swivel seat adapted to move on a track such as that mentioned above, whereby the gunner may turn sidewise to fire his gun laterally.

Still a further object is to provide means for locking the seat from swiveling and from movement along the track.

Another object is to provide a gunners seat and mounting therefor which will permit the seat to be moved rearwardly within the fuselage, thus permitting the pilot to stand in his cockpit without using the seat and withouthaving the seat to interfere with his movements.

Broadly, the invention includes a track member curved downwardly and rearwardly from a point within an aircraft cockpit,'the track being mounted substantially along the plane of symmetry of the aircraft. The track is grooved to receive rollers carried by a slide, whereby the slide may move from the extreme forward to the extreme rearward end of the track. This slide carries a bucket type swivel seat, and the track, slide and seat are so organized, that when the slide is in the uppermost position the gunner may swivel the seat from front to back or vice versa, and remain in a substantially upright position. In this position, he may face forwardly when the gun is out of action, or may face rearwardly or laterally for firing the gun substantially horizontally from the aircraft. When the gunner desires to fire the gun at high elevations, he can unlock the slide from the traok'and allow the slide to travel rearwardly along the track which, by reason of the curved shape of the track, tilts the seat upwardly. As the seat slides rearwardly along the track, the gunner moves downwardly and rearwardly so that, at the rearward end of the track the gurmer is in a substantially recumbent position, facing upwardly, in which position he is able to fire the gun in a substantially vertical direction. By this organization, the actual cockpit opening may be very small and the gunner is aiforded a maximum degree of protection by the sides of the fuselage.

For a clearer understanding of the invention, reference may be made to the attached drawings, in which similar numbers indicate similar parts, and in which:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of a portion of an airplane, partly broken away, showing the general organization of a gun mount and a seat according to this invention;

Fig. 2 is a cross section of an airplane fuselage, looking aft, and showing the seat of the invention positioned for lateral firing of a mounted gun;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail showing the mounting of the seat and showing the means for looking the seat and the slide from movement;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged section through the seat track, showing the slide mounted thereon; and

Fig. 5 is a section through a portion of the track and slide, showing the mechanism for locking the slide to the track.

Referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, the fuselage II] is provided with a cockpit opening ll of relatively small compass. Around the edge of the cockpit, a track I2 is arranged, adapted to carry a gun carriage l3 and a gun I4, the elements l2, l3 and I4 forming a flexible gun mount described and claimed more particularly in my copending application, Serial No. 644,450. The cockpit may be provided with a movable closure 15 for protecting the gunner from the elements, and arearwardly movable hood It may be arranged to be moved down over the gunner when he is seated in a forwardly facing direction, or when the gun is not in use. Preferably, the cockpit closure 15 may be a rearward extension of a forward cockpit closure l1 covering the forward pilot's cockpit l8. In aircraft of the type disclosed, the gunners cockpit is usually provided with auxiliary flying controls including a stick H! which may be utilized should the pilot become incapacitated.

The gun track I2 is provided with a forward curved extension 20, along which the gun carriage may be moved to stow the gun when not in use. This downwardly curved track portion 2|! permits the carriage l3 to be quickly moved to or from an operating position without actually disniounting the gun from the carriage, or making other adjustments which are usually necessary in gun mounting arrangements of the prior art. The gun track l2 comprises a substantially raised for depressed or elevated aiming.

Mounted on the floor 26 of the fuselage I is a curved track 21, the cross section of this track being better shown in Fig. 4. The track includes a central longitudinal groove 28 in the upper surface and lateral longitudinal grooves 29 and 39 in the side faces of thetrack. Attachment of the track to the floor and to structural braces 3| may be effected by means of through bolts 32 at-spaced intervals along the track. It will be noted that the track is curved, so that the forward end 33 is raised from the floor 26 and lies well within the cockpit II. From this point, the

track curves downwardly and rearwardly to a point 34 well under the rearward coaming of the cockpit II. The forward .raised portion 33 of the track may be supported from the floor by means of a bracket 35. Mounted on the track 21 is a slide 36 comprising a channel-shaped member 31 whose web lies parallel to the upper track face, and whose downwardly depending flanges lie substantially parallel to the lateral track faces. Spaced spindles 38 project inwardly from each depending flange of the channel member 31 and have rollers 39 mounted at their inner ends for engagement with the grooves 29 and 39. Similarly, the web of the channel 31 has an inwardly projecting spindle 40, having a roller 4| mounted thereon for engagement with the track groove 28. For properly guiding and bracing the slide 36, a roller 4| is mounted at each end of the slide 36, while one roller 39 is mounted on each side and on each end of the slide 36. Thus, the slide is firmly carried for longitudinal movement along the track, but lateral tilting, or lifting of the slide from the track is prevented. The channel 31 carries an upwardly extending pintle 42, the top face 43 of which is in angled relationship to the top face of the channel 31. On this pintle, a bucket type seat 44 is mounted for swiveling, the seat having a column 45 engaging the pintle and borne thereby. Said column is provided with a flange 46 on which is mounted an upwardly projecting tube 41 within which a plunger 48 is adapted to slide. A Bowden cable 49 is attached to the plunger 46 for withdrawing the plunger from the tube by means of a handle 59 pivoted to the side of the seat 44. The top face of the pintle 42 is provided with a plurality of openings such as within any one of which vthe plunger 48 may engage. Thus, by pulling upwardly on the handle 50, the plunger is withdrawn from one of the openings 5| in which it may be engaged and the seated gunner may swivel the seat. Upon releasing the handle 59,

the plunger is downwardly urged by virtue of a spring 52 acting thereon, .so that, when the plunger registers with another of the openings 5|, it engages therein to lock the seat in a new position of swiveling.

On the channel 31, a pair of brackets 53 are mounted to pivotally receive a bell crank unit 54 including an operating handle 55 and an arm 56 the latter extending downwardly to terminate substantially opposite one of the lateral faces of the track 21. Said lateral track face, at the bottom of the groove, is provided with a. plurality of spaced openings 51, within any one of which a plunger 58 may engage. This plunger is carried in a tubular extension 59 mounted on a flange of the channel 31, and is provided at its outer end with a cross pin 69 engaged by the arm 56.' A spring 6! is organized to normally depress the bell crank unit 54 whereby the plunger 58 is urged toward engagement with the bottom of the groove 30 or, when it is in registry with one of the openings 51, for engagement therein. In operation, the slide, and hence the seat 44,- is locked longitudinally along the I slide forwardly or rearwardly along the track.

Upon releasing the handle 55, the spring 6| urges the plunger against the track, and, when registry of the plunger with an opening 5! occurs, the track is locked in a new position.

When the seat 44 is moved, with the slide 36, forwardly on the track, it may be swiveled through 360 without the track interfering with the seat or with the legs of the gunner. When the slide and seat are moved downwardly along the track, swiveling of the seat through a limited range may be effected, whereby the gunner is enabled to traverse the gun from side to side when the gun is elevated to high angles! This position is shown generally by the dotted lines in Fig. 1. To enable the gunner to more easily move the seat forwardly and rearwardly along the track, a plurality of foot cleats 64 are arranged on each side of the track along the floor 26, whereby by pushing or pulling with his legs, the pilot may move the seat after unlocking it from the track. Similarly, a cleat 65 may be attached to upright structural members 66 of the aircraft fuselage, to give the pilot a foot rest whenthe seat is moved to its extreme rearward position along. the track.

A stop 67 may be suitably bolted or otherwise fastened to the forward end 33 of the track,

thus preventing the slide from rolling off the. track. By removal of the stop 61, the seat and slide may be wholly removed from the aircraft for servicing or repairs.

It may be noted that, should the pilot desire to do so, he may rise from his seat and slide the seat rearwardly along the track 21 to a position under the rear edge of the cockpit. Then, in a standing position, he is free to operate the gun and may, perhaps, more conveniently train the gun downwardly over the side of the fuselage.

While I have described my invention in detail in its present preferred embodiment, it will be obvious to those skilled in the art, after understanding my invention, that various changes and modifications may be made therein without departing from the spirit or scope thereof. I aim in the appended claims to, cover all such modifications and changes.

What is claimed is:

1. In an aircraft body having a cockpit, an arcuate guideway Carried by said body lying in a substantially longitudinal plane and extending downwardly and rearwardly in a substantially arcuate path from a point in said cockpit to a point within said body and remote from the cockpit coaming, a slide carried by and movable along said guideway, and a seat mounted on said slide for movement therewith.

2. In an aircraft body, a guideway, a slide movable therealcng, means mounted on said slide for locking said slide against movement along said guideway, a seat mounted for swiveling on said slide, and means carried by said seat for locking said seat against swiveling on said slide.

3. In an aircraft body having a gunners cockpit, a single rail mounted Withinsaid cockpit substantially in the plane of symmetry of said body, said rail terminating at one end substantially centrally of said cockpit and extending downwardly and rearwardly to terminate at its other end rearward of said cockpit, a slide mov- "able along said rail'and'havi'ng' elements 'em'-' bracing portions of said rail to hold said slide thereon, and a seat swiveled for turning relative to said slide, the swivel axis of said seat being acutely angled relative to a normal to said rail, said rail being so tilted at its forward end as to hold said swivel axis in a substantially vertical attitude when said seat is moved to the extreme forward end of said rail.

4. A gunners seating accommodation for aircraft including in combination a channeled rail, a slide movable along said rail having rollers engaging within the rail channels for retaining said slide thereon, a seat swiveled on said slide, means carried by said slide for locking said slide with respect to said rail, and means carried by said seat for locking said seat with respect to said slide,

5. A gunners seating accommodation for aircraft including a channeled rail curved in a vertical plane throughout a portion of its length, a slide movable throughout the length of said rail having rollers lengaging within the rail channels for retaining said slide thereon, a seat swiveled on said slide on an axis acutely angled with respect to a tangent to said rail at the point of engagement of said slide therewith, said rail being so curved at one portion thereof, that upon movement of said slide to that said portion, the combination of the rail angle and the seat swivel axis angle will hold said seat swivel axis in a substantially vertical attitude, whereas, in other positions of said slide along said rail, said seat swivel axis is angled relative to the vertical.

CLEM G. TRIMBACH. 

